Oroville Dam: Assemblyman James Gallagher brings group of legislators to Oroville

Assemblyman James Gallagher and other legislators discuss the Lake Oroville Dam and spillway incident and current situation during a gathering at the Southside Community Center in Oroville on Thursday.
Bill Husa — Enterprise-Record

Oroville >> Assemblyman James Gallagher rounded up a group of bipartisan legislators to visit Oroville on Thursday, where they met with community members and toured the now-infamous dam.

Representatives of districts ranging from southern to northern California came to better understand the place where the evacuation of about 188,000 people occurred just over a year ago. They said they wanted to educate themselves about the dam — what happened during the crisis, the repairs now being done and other outstanding issues — and also just see what the community is like.

Gallagher, R-Yuba City, said the purpose of the trip was to give his fellow legislators a chance to talk with locals and see what was going on in Oroville, outside of the crisis. He highlighted the area’s agricultural and manufacturing industries and a growing downtown in Oroville.

“Before this whole thing happened that put Oroville in the national and international news media, (people) were doing amazing things in this community,” Gallagher said. “Look, we don’t want this disaster to define us.”

On the flip side, residents needed a hand up, he said. He said the community needed to see change in how the dam was operated and a shift in culture within the state Department of Water Resources.

“Unemployment is way too high,” Gallagher said. “There are too many people without opportunities. This dam has a great benefit for the entire state, 26 million people that get their water from Oroville Dam. We need to make this facility work for Oroville.”

Oroville Vice Mayor Janet Goodson spoke to impacts on the economy and on distrust that resulted from the spillway crisis.

“The breaking of the spillway fractured not only the dam infrastructure, but it also fractured the trust that our citizens have had for so very long with the Department of Water Resources,” Goodson said.

She said that what Gallagher organized was admirable and she appreciated that representatives, who don’t often see eye-to-eye, were willing to come together for the issue.

“Although we have differences, we know there is a common thread here,” she said. “We all have an important role to play in the operation of the Oroville Dam. It is my hope that when you come again you will see a vibrant (and) a very prosperous city which we so richly deserve.”

Sandy Linville, president and CEO of the Oroville Chamber of Commerce, told the attendees their assistance was needed to move the community forward. About 40 came to the event hosted by Gallagher at the Southside Oroville Community Center.

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“(We) need your help to carve out a better future, not just for Oroville, but for our Central Valley and Southern California neighbors who depend on this water,” Linville said. “It’s not just an Oroville problem. It’s a California problem.”

Holding up pamphlets from the dedication of the dam, Linville explained some benefits that never materialized. The community received a fraction of what was promised, she said.

“About 50 years ago, Gov. Ronald Reagan claimed that Oroville would be, and I quote, ‘one of the greatest recreational and fishery lakes in California.’ He also said, ‘the construction boom in Oroville is over but it will be followed by even larger growth as recreation brings millions to the lake.’”

Among some of those things that were touted included a high speed train, a monorail and an estimated 5 million visitors to the lake each year.

“For 50 years, we’ve lived with these broken promises and shattered expectations,” she said. “The past 50 years not only informs the present, it’s also going to inform the future.”

Lawmakers on trip

Assemblyman Dante Acosta, R-Santa Clarita, said he wanted to visit Oroville for a few reasons. For one, he is vice chair of the natural resources committee.

“I thought it was very important to gain another perspective of how these issues are affecting the people who actually live here and downstream that were evacuated, but also to see what the lack of maintenance and proper repairs are doing to a valuable piece of California infrastructure,” Acosta said.

Insufficient maintenance and repairs could lead to loss of life and water, recreational and power resources that would affect the rest of the state, he acknowledged. Acosta said he wanted to see what the spillway looked like firsthand.

“From a holistic standpoint, things are interconnected, whether it’s the grid or water supplies to Southern California through the (State) Water Project. Everything is interconnected in California. I represent a district, sure, but I also vote on issues that affect the entire state of California.”

Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, D-Long Beach, also took the bus from the State Capitol Thursday morning in order to get a look at the dam in person.

“I watched this incident unfold on TV, but to see it in person, it’s much more meaningful,” he said. “The dam is a big operation and you don’t get that sense from TV. You hear about it for a week, maybe two, then it more or less goes away.”

The visit was about getting “educated and activated,” so assemblymembers would be better informed to vote on related policy issues in the future, O’Donnell said. He also recognized the vast impact of the dam on Southern California.

“I don’t have a dam within 100 miles of my assembly district,” he said. “I haven’t heard about this issue from a single constituent of mine (but) this impacts my constituency. In Southern California, when we’re talking about infrastructure issues, we’re typically talking about freeways. Up north, the infrastructure issues become much more expansive.”

About the Author

Risa Johnson covers local politics in Butte County and the City of Oroville for the Chico Enterprise-Record and Oroville Mercury-Register newspapers. Since February 2017, she has written extensively about the Oroville Dam crisis. She is a proud alumna of Chico State University. Reach the author at rjohnson@chicoer.com
or follow Risa on Twitter: @risamjohnson.